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CHAPTER 1 . . - CONCLUSON We started with a Dumontian definition of the caste system. The hierarchy had a Vedic age. of politico-economic factors and the consequent upward restricted hierarchy. Brahman, highest But, this mobility those ends llr 1 of status respect the were 1 fixed reigned middle rungs and on to in all the immutable, and supreme. Thus, the received the society. fronts And the untouchable was - politico-economic and drive home the point that certain values religio-cultural system of Hinduism were the sanctity of the cow, its removal ritual excretions, Secondly, the so supreme, were the namely, with regarded as pollution arising out of human that those engaged in removing such also deemed to be in a polluted state. in of so that all those connected from the village precincts untouchable. society of It appears as if the untouchable was sacrificed in status. with in regardless of his secular position, deprived order to The consideration were post- Henceforth, there was tremendous scope for the and downward social mobility of groups. was the This was countered by the movements of Buddhism and Jainism. play tendency to crystallize in the pre-British era was an matter Thus, Indian encapsulated the Brahman and untouchable upholding certain and numerous groups in-between jostling for power and with at best a nebulous position in the hierarchy. one, values, pelf, 356 systemic arragement This enabled Indian society to absorb groups entering the sub-continent in a manner in new they could whole - which retain their culture and yet become part the caste system. of a In this unique way, diversity was retained, with a unifying thread running through it. Culture performed the The drawback main We untouchable. Sankara task of unification. onwards position of was the abominable have seen that were acutely position spiritual aware of of the leaders the from vulnerable The bhakti movement was the untouchable. an attempt to bring the low castes within the cultural ambit of without Hinduism, 1 hierarchy 1 at brought corollary same time, disturbing the of the caste system. This system received a They the with jolt with the coming of the them the notion of the notion of British. equality 'inclusiveness•, and by which avenues of mobility were thrown open to all. its secular This now posed a threat to the encapsulated system with its dual values for the ends and the middle of the hierarchy. Has this following encapsulated system given way British rule and Independence. in found that indeed, years We examined this problem by taking up the critical category of We the •untouchable'. the system has given way but only 357 The social reform movement of the early decades partially. of the century 20th •marginally served untouchable• untouchability. to castes liberate from there are a few other have a long way to go. such caste, the number of clutches of These castes have gone on to play an impor- tant part in the economy and polity of But, a Independent India. •core untouchable• castes who Our analysis involved a study of one the Madiga. The Madiga and Holeya and their counterparts all over India were ritually more debased than the with marginally untouchable castes because they dealt the polluting carcass of the cow. of caste, the the closer to the polluting substance, the greater pollution. deprived, In the relative hierarchy The 1 core untouchables• were the the lowest of the low in terms of status and most the poorest in terms of secular indicators. Our study indicates that the notion of purity and pollution has not given way regarding this segment of the No better incident. proof of this can be given than population. the following During the fieldwork, we had called a few of the respondents to the house of an Okkaliga constable, conducted the interviews in a quiet setting. where we On completion of the fieldwork the neighbours, who were largely Okkaligas, demanded that the house be purified. The constable there- fore had to undertake a purification ceremony of the same. 358 The lack of doctrinal change in the Hindu socio-religious system in the face of equality professed by the Constitution has led to a peculiar situation with regard to untouchables•. but they Thus, continue within the Colony. occupations in a the •core an educated Madiga elite has emerged to reside in a ghetto-like situation Similarly, the Madiga have entered all formal sense. But, they do not enjoy the benefits of occupational change, partly because their social interaction with others is so limited that they are to develop and take advantage of Similarly, in they have been largely vertically mobilized, i.e. politics, they networks. unable have been latter 1 s used by the upper castes to strength, for small gains increase accruing the to the the mid- untouchables. Movements of horizontal mobilization began in seventies and we have observed one such movement We have pointed out that the function it Madiga. is among mainly as a watchdog in the day-to-day affairs the performs of the Madiga. While this is an important task, it is not enough. We to wish concentrate, impure and point Only notion such that the among other things, movement will have to on the notion of pure and press for its removal from the cultural system. own out Hindu religio- Alternatively, it will have to develop its of •culture• as with developments will the result Dravidian in the Movement. erstwhile 359 untouchable holding his head high and taking his place in the Indian social fabric. by no means an leadership. untouchable task of movement leadership. show However, the net of numbers inhuman practice, Nevertheless, population, system has co-opted they the untouchability of those who are is in the the Dalit marginal has rendered subjected to this thus reducing the pressure they can exert. it a the leaders of still figure are stands at 15% of which is not entirely scattered throughout breadth of the country and this also poses with skills The removal of the more promise. from the However, reservation great elite and has rendened them ineffectual in untouchable smaller The task before him easy one and calls for The rightful the total unimpressive. the length problems. improving communications this problem can be and But, overcome and may even be an asset in the spread of the movement. While there are tremendous obstacles, on their society, forms side such certain modernizing forces in as education and the introduction of technology. committed the untouchables have Moreover, to the eradication of present-day of the national elite stands untouchability. Finally, the religio-cultural system of Hinduism no longer plays primary role of integration, polity: hence, The newer the which is now performed by the the redundance of the notion of pure-inpure. day cannot be far off when the caste system sheds the 360 notion of pollution with regard to the untouchables. And then, and only then, will irrevocable and systemic change be said to have taken place in the caste system.